Prime Minister Theresa May insisted Birmingham is stronger because of its diverse population, following claims that the city has a problem with extremism.

She pointed out that while arrests had been made in Birmingham following the attack in London which led to five deaths, there had also been arrests for terror-related offences in other parts of the country.

It follows a series of newspaper and television reports highlighting the issue of extremism in the city, including one national newspaper which called Birmingham “the jihadi capital of Britain”.

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Mrs May said: “As I look across the whole country, we see people from different parts of the country who have been radicalised, some of whom will have been involved in potential terrorist activity. There have been arrests here in Birmingham and there have been arrests over time in various parts of the country,

“The challenge for us is making sure that we deal with and address the hatred of the extremists, wherever it is.

“We want to be welcoming and recognising the strength of the diversity of our populations, and you see that here in Birmingham particularly.

She backed comments from Andy Street, the Conservative candidate for West Midlands mayor , who said in a recent interview that extremism could be discouraged by ensuring economic success is shared fairly in every part of the community.

Mrs May said a study into integration commissioned by the Government from Dame Louise Casey had also highlighted the importance of sharing economic success.

The Prime Minister said: “Underlying it you need to deal with the ideology that drives extremism and that drives radicalisation.

“But we do need to make sure - recently the Government, David [Cameron] and I, commissioned a piece of work looking at integration in communities, looking particularly at some of the perhaps more isolated or separate communities, looking at how we encourage cohesion in communities.

“And one of the issues she raised in that was integration in the sense of being able to participate tin the economy.

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“I think we have a wider issue in terms of participation in the economy. We need to make sure that we are truly developing a society where success is based on merit, not privilege.

“And that everything we do in terms of education and obviously then opportunities in terms of jobs is providing, encouraging that aspiration for people to believe they can be part of their local community. They can contribute, they can be a success and they can get on in life.”

Westminster killer Khalid Masood lived in Birmingham, although he was originally from Kent.

Some media reports have highlighted a study by think tank the Henry Jackson society which said Birmingham was “one of Britain’s major Islamist terrorist hotspots”. However, this report actually said London had produced more Islamist extremists than Birmingham.

Mrs May was speaking to the Birmingham Mail during a visit to Birmingham, in which she attended the UK-Qatar Business and Investment Forum at Birmingham’s ICC and met Andy Street, the Conservative candidate in the election for a West Midlands mayor on May 4.